O U R T E A S

We carefully curate premium teas which are full of life, relaxing, and comfortable to drink. Our teas combine quality leaves from agrochemical free farms with skilled generations of tea makers. We use various methodologies to select our teas such as chemical testing, cupping and comparing, and most importantly the observation of the body and mind while drinking tea. We offer teas that have qualities beyond taste and smell; we look for teas that experientially confirm their story of origin. The only way to fully understand a tea is to drink the tea.

O U R P R A C T I C E

Gong Fu Cha, or the practice and skill of making tea, can calm the mind, increase sensory acuity, and enhance quality of life. These are skills we can carry into the rest of our lives. In order to truly experience reality we must forget the "facts", the marketing, and the story we are told by others and even ourselves. We can increase our level of awareness by both emptying our minds and focusing on whatever activity we are doing. The root of Gong Fu Cha is not found in the form; Zuo Wang is not confined to a posture. ​

Z U O W A N G

Zuò Wàng can be directly translated as "to sit and forget." However, our tea company has decided to leave the name in its original Chinese in order to preserve the great cultural, religious, and spiritual depth of these two characters. The following is the passage from the Daoist text, Zhuang Zi, that immortalized the phrase “Zuò Wàng”. Zuò Wàng has been translated here as “sit and forget everything”.

​" 'I sit and forget everything,' said Yan Hui. Zhongni changed countenance, and asked, 'What do you mean by saying that you sit and forget (everything)?' Yan Hui replied, "My connection with the body and its parts is dissolved; my perceptive organs are discarded. Thus leaving my material form, and bidding farewell to my knowledge, I have become one with the Great Pervader. This I call sitting and forgetting all things."​ - Zhuang Zi, The Chapter "The Grand Master"

​Translating from Chinese is a delightfully intellectual process where each character can have multiple, complex meanings. For example, ​Zuò is translated as sit, as in a meditative sitting posture, but a person could also “​Zuò (sit) with their own thoughts.” Similarly, Wàng is translated as “to forget” but also as “to go beyond ourselves.” The multifaceted meaning of Zuò Wàng showcases the depth of classical Chinese and the challenges of providing exact translations in English. One can Zuò without sitting and Wàng without forgetting.

A B O U T U S

Melanie and Forest are Chinese Medicine practitioners; they studied at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine in Portland, Oregon. Forest and Melanie have studied many religions, and have a particular affinity and deep respect for Daoism and Buddhism. They have drank and studied tea collectively for over 20 years, and now combine their study and understanding of Chinese Medicine with tea. Over the last 8 years they have deepened their understanding of tea, Chinese medicine and meditation by studying with tea collectors, Chinese doctors, and cultivators of the body, mind, and spirit.